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Crashed jeep into a tree offroading, ARB bumper folded like a pancake, need advice...

9

90Pioneer

NAXJA Forum User
Location
USA
So I was out doing some high speed desert rallying last night. Tire got sucked into a pit of soft dirt and sucked me right into a big tree. I was going about 50 but the actual impact was closer to 20mph.

Hit the driver side of my ARB bumper, which basically crumpled in on itself destroying my grill, header piece, and driver side fender. The bumper also relocated itself about 2 inches towards the passenger side. Unibody got pushed in just a little but not too much. Thank god I had extra support brackets welded in.

So I will now be looking for a replacement bumper. I do not want another ARB after seeing how much damage it caused and how little it took to destroy it. I have a Warn M8000 winch with a roller fairlead I will be swapping to my new bumper.

I'm looking for something that is HEAVY duty with good approach angles, at least two light tabs (would prefer four), able to accept my winch, and of course have D ring eyes.

Pic is below...

Any suggestions?
 
Last edited:
You're criticizing the ARB for bending, but you also say the unibody was bent. Imagine how much the unibody would have bent if the ARB stayed rigid and didn't absorb any energy
 
Dest said:
20? Really?
Click to expand...

About that...

I have video if anyone can host...


Also the bull guard tilted back which caused a lot of damage.

I would think a strong bumper with proper mounting system should be able to withstand a 20mph hit from a tree with a lessor about of damage than I incurred.
 
Pics of damage:

jeepdamage.jpg



ETA this pic does not do the bumper damage justice. It's much more significant than the pic shows
 
At 20 mph if the bumper didn't bend all of that force would have been transmitted backwards through the unibody (most likely bending it at the first reinforced area) and then onward to you.

With that being said my friends and I call the ARB bumpers "self-folding" because they seem to bend very easily. I would look up ridigco, Moab 4x4 outpost, JCR, AJ's offroad etc...

-Alex
 
IIRC, the ARB bumpers are designed to do that in the event of a high-speed crash. It probably saved the front end of your jeep by buckling instead of transmitting the force to the unibody.
 
Seems apparent the goal is to transfer all forces to your unibody, retaining your bumper integrity :shiver:

Interesting concept, I would suggest adding a triangulated cage tied into your bumpers for the future. Granted this will still yield failure points, but the bumper integrity may be saved :shocked:.
 
You can buy mine :D Iv hit lots of stuff at more that 20mph, and my unibody OR bumper hasn't bent :dunno:
 
90Pioneer said:
About that...

I have video if anyone can host...


Also the bull guard tilted back which caused a lot of damage.

I would think a strong bumper with proper mounting system should be able to withstand a 20mph hit from a tree with a lessor about of damage than I incurred.
Click to expand...

Trees don't move, the tree will always win
 
Last edited:
T3hk1w1 said:
IIRC, the ARB bumpers are designed to do that in the event of a high-speed crash.
Click to expand...
We have a winner. Yes, the ARB bullbars are designed to keep factory crush points on many vehicles, and are meant to absorb the impact, protecting the rest of the vehicle.

The bumper are designed in Australia, which has extremely strict vehicle laws. The bumpers need to have crush points to be DOT (or their version of DOT) compliant.

Just think what would have happened if you hit that tree without the bumper. The hood, radiator, radiator support, grill, header, bumper, inner fender, etc, would have been mangled.


Ba-Riedo said:
With that being said my friends and I call the ARB bumpers "self-folding" because they seem to bend very easily.
Click to expand...
The ARB mounts actually have 2 large holes in them, to act as a crumple zone.

This is the mount for an ARB for a Toyota Pick-up.
brackets2.jpg

Notice the wave feature to allow it to be "self folding".
 
" Crashed jeep into a tree offroading, ARB bumper folded like a pancake, need advic " stop crashing into trees.( ha ha just a joke I an surprised no one said it before me)
 
but srsly, quit crashing into tree's....
AT LEAST say you were in someone's dust!

my friend's done worse damage on cactus
damage looks reasonable for a 20+ mph crash into a god damn tree.
 
If/when i crash my ARB doing 20mph with that amount of damage (to the bumper) and that little amount of damage (to the XJ) i'll buy another. Looks like it saved the XJ to me??
No??
 
What do you expect when you hit a tree w/ a unibody? Doesn't matter what kind of bumper you have... something will give.

I hit a tree in my POS 85 Bronco w/ my steel square tube bumper, the bumper didn't bend but the frame got tweaked.... screwing around in slick mud in 2wd... hit the brakes locked up the front, I then found out the rear brakes were not working.... and now you know the rest of the story ;)
 
Did you drive out? Thats what the bumper is made for. At 20mph in a tree, I don't know a lot machines that won't have any damage, a M113 maybe but then its your in the steering wheel...

To bad, was nice. Just try ty fix it.
 
Frankkl said:
Did you drive out? Thats what the bumper is made for. At 20mph in a tree, I don't know a lot machines that won't have any damage, a M113 maybe but then its your in the steering wheel...

To bad, was nice. Just try ty fix it.
Click to expand...

Hell yes I drove out and kept rallying for another hour until about dark.

For some reason my headlights stopped working??? 6 lights on the front of that damn bumper, the ONLY one I could get to work was a single fog light.

Bumper is pushed so now when my jeep flexes the tire hits it.

I think there is going to be a lot more "behind the scenes" damage as far as bolt holes, mounting locations, etc. A lot of shit got tweaked. Hell that DS fender is sitting 1/2" back than there it was before. Bumper pushed 2-2.5 inches towards the passenger side.
 
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